CVE-2018-20188 in Fuel
Summary
by MITRE
FUEL CMS 1.4.3 has CSRF via users/create/ to add an administrator account.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/21/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-20188 affects FUEL CMS version 1.4.3 and represents a cross-site request forgery flaw that enables unauthorized users to escalate their privileges by creating administrator accounts. This issue stems from the absence of proper anti-CSRF token validation mechanisms within the users/create/ endpoint, which allows malicious actors to craft crafted requests that automatically create new administrative user accounts without proper authentication. The vulnerability specifically targets the content management system's user creation functionality, which should normally require administrative authorization but can be exploited through deceptive web pages or email attachments that trigger the account creation process.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which categorizes cross-site request forgery as a critical security weakness where the application fails to validate that requests originate from legitimate sources. The flaw operates by bypassing the normal authentication flow that should prevent unauthorized users from creating accounts with elevated privileges, particularly administrator roles. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability by constructing malicious HTML pages or embedding crafted requests within email payloads that, when visited or opened by authenticated users, automatically submit requests to the vulnerable FUEL CMS instance to create new administrator accounts. This exploitation technique typically involves using the browser's automatic form submission capabilities or JavaScript-based request generation to trigger the user creation endpoint without user knowledge or consent.
The operational impact of CVE-2018-20188 is severe as it provides attackers with a direct path to gain administrative control over the affected CMS instance. Once an attacker successfully creates an administrator account, they can access all administrative functions including content management, user administration, plugin management, and system configuration settings. This privilege escalation allows for complete system compromise, data exfiltration, service disruption, and potential lateral movement within network environments where the CMS is deployed. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it can be exploited remotely without requiring prior authentication credentials, making it an attractive target for automated exploitation tools and mass scanning activities. The attack surface is further expanded by the fact that the vulnerability affects the user creation endpoint, which is typically accessible to legitimate users but lacks proper access controls for account creation functions.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2018-20188 should focus on implementing robust anti-CSRF protection mechanisms within the FUEL CMS application. The primary remediation involves adding proper CSRF token validation to the users/create/ endpoint, ensuring that all requests to create new user accounts require valid authentication tokens that are tied to the user's current session. Organizations should also implement proper access controls that verify user authorization levels before allowing account creation requests to proceed, particularly for administrative roles. Additionally, the application should enforce rate limiting and monitoring of user creation requests to detect anomalous activity patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. The remediation process should include updating to FUEL CMS version 1.4.4 or later, which contains the necessary security patches to address this vulnerability. Security teams should also conduct thorough vulnerability assessments to identify any other endpoints that may be susceptible to similar CSRF attacks, and implement comprehensive security testing including automated scanning and manual penetration testing to validate the effectiveness of implemented controls. The mitigation approach should align with ATT&CK technique T1078 which addresses valid accounts and privilege escalation through unauthorized access to administrative functions.